


Oh, Baby!

by SavingAnnie



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26434162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SavingAnnie/pseuds/SavingAnnie
Summary: “But… but how did this even happen?” Catra stuttered, glancing down at her hands.Glimmer and Bow exchanged a bemused look.“Well, when two people love each other very much and decide they want a baby-" Glimmer started.“-then the magic of Etheria binds their souls together and forms a child!” Bow finished.Adora and Catra stared at them, blank faced.“You’re kidding.” Catra said.
Relationships: Adora & Catra & Finn | Adora/Catra Child (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Netossa/Spinnerella (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 28
Kudos: 323





	1. A Strange New Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I know there's a misspelled word in here. The typo made me think of a funny meme so it stays.

In the early morning light of clearing in the Whispering Woods, She-Ra stood ready, sword aloft. She scanned the trees that surrounded the meadow, muscles taught and ready to leap into action at the slightest flicker of a shadow.

“Hey, Adora.” A voice purred.

She-Ra whipped around just in time to see a dark shape descend from the canopy behind her. With a shout, she went tumbling backwards but was able to use her momentum to fling the attacker off of her. She jumped to her feet and charged forward, only to realize that where her opponent should have been, there was only empty air.

“OK, Catra,” Adora whispered, “Where are you?”

“Were you talking to me?” Catra appeared over She-Ra’s left shoulder and then disappeared just as quickly when her sword came swinging down.

“Ha!” She said, “Too slow!”

Showing off the full extent of her acrobatic prowess, Catra backflipped out of the way She-Ra’s strikes. Not to be outdone, Adora took a soaring leap over her head, twisting mid-air to face her as she cut off her path of escape. For a moment Catra froze, wide-eyed, but then with a bright fanged grin, she vanished from sight.

“I liked you better before you could turn invisible,” Adora grumbled, shooting a glare at the patch of sunlight where a now invisible Melog likely still lolled contentedly in the warmth.

“No, you didn’t.” Catra’s disembodied voice called back.

She-Ra turned to the far edge of the clearing where the taunt had come from. Instead of charging over, she paused and watched the grass for movement. Sure enough, a patch of weeds rustled and she traced the tell-tale disruption of plant-life as it moved steadily back towards her along the edge of the clearing. Just as it was about the reach her, She-Ra spun sideways and pinned a now very visible Catra against a nearby tree.

For a second the two stared at each other, wide-eyed and breathless. Then with a grin, Adora phased back to her normal height.

“I win.” She breathed and leaned down, eyes fluttering closed.

“You wish,” Catra said, and taking advantage of her wife’s distraction, knocked her legs out from under her. She followed her tumbling to the ground, and after a rolling scuffle across the meadow, ended up on top again. With one hand, she pinned Adora’s arm above her head, and with the other, she stroked her cheek before swooping down to kiss her.

“Mmm,” Adora sighed into her lips, “still kind of feeling like I won this one.”

“Shut-up,” Catra growled and pressed kisses all over Adora’s face until she started giggling. With a contented purr, she rolled off of Adora and onto the grass next to her, grabbing her hand so she could trace absentminded shapes on her palm.

“This is nice.” She murmured, tilting her chin up to look at Adora.

“You know I would NEVER complain about helping Bow and Glimmer with final preparations, but yeah, getting out of the castle… just the two of us… It is nice,” Adora said, shifting onto her side so their foreheads were almost touching.

Catra snickered, “For someone who claimed they wanted a ‘small family and close friends wedding’ Glimmer sure has gone overboard with party planning.”

“I mean it doesn’t help that Bow’s family alone is the size of a small army.”

“Or the fact that their close friends list includes most of Etheria and the entire council of the interplanetary alliance.”

“That’s what we get for spreading peace and magic across the galaxy, I guess.”

“I guess,” Catra smirked, leaning in to press one last long kiss to her wife’s lips before sitting up in the grass. Adora rolled up beside her but then froze, eyes fixed over her shoulder.

“Catra, look.” She whispered and lifted her hand, pointing into the shadows of the forest. From the trees, a massive beast emerged, all sinew and muscle it padded into the meadow and lifted its enormous fanged snout to sniff the air. On instinct, Catra made to leap to her feet, but Adora grabbed her arm, stilling her.

“It’s okay,” She said, searching blue eyes asking Catra to trust her. “I’ve got this.”  
It went against every fibre of Catra’s being to watch her wife slowly rise to her feet and take a cautious step towards the predator.

“Hey there,” Adora crooned, taking another step forward, “I won’t hurt you, you’re alright.”

The beast fixed its eyes on her, muscles tensed, claws protracting from the pads of its feet.

“Adora,” Catra said, voice taut with worry, but Adora just shooed at her with one hand while the other extended out towards the beast who began to release a low rumbling growl.

“Adora!” Catra cried, but she just closed her eyes and took the final step, her hand pressing onto the snout of the beast.

For a second Catra was sure she was going to have to carry her wife home in pieces, but instead, the great beast gave a shuddering sigh and leaned into Adora’s hand.

“That’s it girl.” Adora smiled, weak with relief, “It’s okay.”

Adora took a step back and for a second the two beings stood in silence, contemplating each other. Then the beast gave a huff and tossed its head towards the forest, beckoning three tiny cubs forth from their shadowed hiding place. The beasts in miniature came rolling into the meadow, leaping and pouncing on one another in reckless abandon. One particularly brave youngster left its siblings and cautiously stalked towards Adora.

Adora looked from the cub to the mother beast.

“Uh, can I?” She asked, and Catra swore she saw the animal lift its head in a gruff nod.

Bending down, Adora extended a finger for the cub to sniff. At first, the little creature wrinkled its nose in disgust so obvious it made Catra burst out into nervous laughter, but on second examination, the cub deemed its new friend acceptable and crawled onto her lap. Eyes wide, Adora wrapped her arms around the little thing and began to rock it in her arms, gently scratching behind its pointed ears. She looked up across the meadow towards her wife and smiled so wide it made Catra’s heart hurt.

For one brief moment, Catra pictured a future, an impossible future.

Suddenly, the meadow was enveloped in a blinding flash as a beam of light erupted out of Catra’s chest and collided with a twin beam emanating from Adora. The beast howled in alarm and sprang down to pluck her cub from Adora’s arms before tearing into the forest with her other two young in close pursuit. Alone again in the meadow, Catra ran to her wife, clawing at the flashes of pink and blue light that seemed to be emanating out of her chest, just above the heart.

“Catra!” Adora cried, and then amongst the chaos, they were in each other’s arms, seemingly drawn together across the distance of the clearing.

“What’s going on!?” Catra shouted as the light churned between them.

“I don’t know!” Adora yelled back.

Then, as quickly as it came, the blinding light dimmed.

Catra scrunched one eye open and then the other, quickly releasing Adora as she realized her claws had dug into her back.

“Are you okay?” She asked, spinning Adora around to make sure she hadn’t accidentally drawn blood in her terror.

“Catra, I’m fine.” She laughed and then lit up in a wicked smirk, “You’ve scratched me a lot harder than that during s- what in the stars is _that? _”  
__

Catra spun around and then shrieked in alarm at the many-coloured flickering sphere floating in front of her. She sprang back but the sphere pursued her, trailing behind her even as Melog turned her invisible and she scrabbled up the nearest tree. Hissing, she turned on her branch and sprang at the sphere, but as she moved forward, so too did the sphere, hovering just out of reach. _ _  
__

“Hold on!” Adora yelled, making her way far less eloquently up the tree.

“What are you waiting for?” Catra asked, still invisible “Get it! She-Ra up!”

“Catra, whatever it is, I really don’t think it’s going to hurt us.”

“How do you know?” Catra spat, “It’s been chasing me!”

“I don’t think it's chasing you,” Adora said, taking a cautious step forward on the tree branch. Catra reluctantly flickered back into sight so she could grab hold of her shoulder.

“I think its… bonded to you.” She continued.

“Bonded to me?” Catra asked.

“Yeah, and to me too? I don’t know it’s a feeling like a-“

“Magic She-Ra thing?” Catra quirked an eyebrow but Adora just shrugged.

“Like a warmth.” She finished.

Catra paused and stared at the sphere as it continued to flicker between colours. Pink and blue then orange before back to pink and blue, except the pink was more of a purple which was shifting into a red but then! Gold.

Catra blinked. It was warm.

“Okay,” She said, “so the yellow ball isn’t going to do anything to us, what do we do with it?”

“I think we’re supposed to take it with us.” Adora said simply, and then turned to scramble down the tree.”

“Take it with us,” Catra muttered, “Why not?”, and she followed down after her wife, the now monochrome golden sphere in tow.

“Come on, it’s time we get back anyway!” Adora yelled as she strode across the clearing “We’ve been out all morning! Glimmer is going to _kill_ us.”

* * *

“Where have you been?” Glimmer scolded, “do you think I have _time_ to be worrying about you _running off_ and getting into some _mad adventure_ when it’s my _wed_ -“  
Glimmer paced across their bedroom floor, teleporting back in front of Adora’s face for emphasis.

“Glimmer, I’m sorry” Adora cut in, “I swear we just went out to get some air but then something… weird happened.”

“Weird?” Bow asked, placing a calming hand on Glimmer’s shoulder, “And where’s Catra?”

“I’m in here,” Catra called from the walk-in and Melog added a confirming meow.

“Why is she in the closet?” Glimmer asked wearily.

“Ok now don’t freak out, but we’ve brought back a… strange new friend.” Adora said, “Catra? Come out now.”

The door to the walk-in creaked open and Catra stepped into the room, Melog at her side, the sphere of golden light bobbing in front of her.

Glimmer’s jaw dropped in shock while Bow clapped his hands to his mouth and squealed.

“Oh, I knew it, congratulations!” He said.

“This is… Oh, wow, you guys!” Glimmer spluttered, slowly lighting up into a grin.

“Uhhhh what’s happening?” Adora asked.

“They seem waaay too excited,” Catra said as she walked up and grabbed Adora’s elbow.

“Of course, we’re excited for you!” Glimmer laughed, “You’re going to have a baby!”

“We’re going to have a what now?” Adora laughed along uncertainly.

Bow’s look of joy was replaced by one of confused apprehension, “You’re pregrant...?”

“We’re _what?_ ” Catra asked as Melog turned a sickly grey color.

“We’re going to have a what now?” Adora repeated, stunned.

“That,” Glimmer said using slow careful words as she pointed towards the sphere, “-is going to be a baby. _Your baby_.”

“But… but how did this even happen?” Catra stuttered, glancing down at her hands.

Glimmer and Bow exchanged a bemused look.

“Well, when two people love each other very much and decide they want a baby-" Glimmer started.

“-then the magic of Etheria binds their souls together and forms a child!” Bow finished.

Adora and Catra stared at them, blank-faced.

“You’re kidding,” Catra said.

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you guys where babies came from?” Bow asked, concerned.

“I mean, I came through an interdimensional portal across space-time,” Adora said.

“I showed up in a box.” Added Catra, still in shock.

“Ok… but you never thought about where you came from before that?” Glimmer asked.

“Well,” Catra said, “there was that one time when Shadow Weaver told me I was a parasite who grew inside my mother’s stomach until I got too big and she popped open, but I’m pretty sure she was just trying to make me feel bad.”

Now it was Bow and Glimmer’s turn to be caught off guard.

“That’s… horrifying.” Glimmer choked out eventually.

“Eh, Typical Horde childhood” Catra shrugged, but Adora noticed the stiffness of the gesture and leaned in to slip a reassuring hand around her waist. She rested her cheek on Catra’s shoulder and stared into the golden ball of light that hovered in front of her chest. When she looked closely, Adora could see that the was orb with rhythmically expanding and contracting, like a pulsing heartbeat.

“Catra, that’s a _baby_.” She said, voice hushed with wonder.

“Yeah. A baby.” Catra said, a strange look crossing her face. Suddenly, her eyes widened in panic, Melog flashing red, and she jerked back to grab her wife by the shoulders, “Adora, what are we going to do with a baby!?”

Glimmer laughed and threw her arms around the mothers-to-be, “Take care of it silly! And you’re not going to be alone, you’ll have me and Bow to help!”

“I’m gonna be an _uncle!_ ” Bow sniffed, eyes misting over with happy tears “I mean, I already have eighteen nieces and nephews, but I’m gonna be an uncle _again!_

“But first,” Glimmer said, “you’re going to be a husband. Chop chop people! The wedding bells ring in t-minus three hours and after your little romp in the woods you two,” She pointed at Adora and Catra “are filthy.”


	2. Ceremony

The hour of Bow and Glimmers wedding arrived with great pomp and circumstance. The final guests flooded in from all corners of Etheria, and those travelling from beyond the confines of the planet funnelled in through the newly operational spaceport which has been built where the Horde’s barracks once stood in the Fight Zone. The grounds of Bright Moon had been completely transformed; every single room, from bed-chamber to broom closet had been prepared to house the onslaught of guests, and even then, it was necessary to erect lavish pavilions at the edge of the Whispering Woods to ensure that everyone would have a bed to stumble into after the festivities.

While the reception would be held in the castle’s massive ballroom, the ceremony itself would take place on the shallow lake surrounding the palace. With the help of Frosta and Perfuma, over a hundred delicate ice skiffs had been constructed, each one dripping with white roses and vines. The skiffs could hold a dozen people each and were all headed by a member of the royal guard who would pole the guests from the shore to the center of the shallow lake before the ceremony began.

Inside the castle, Glimmer was panicking.

“Now you’re _sure,”_ Glimmer said for the fifth time, teleporting from her boudoir to the windowsill and back again, “that the Grand Imperator of Alacan won’t be insulted that we put him and his family up in one of the holding cells.”

“Glimmer, _relax_.” Catra sighed, “The Bright Moon holding cells are fancier than most royal suites. He won’t even realize.” She shot Glimmer a look from where she lay sprawled out on her back on the levitating bed, but the queen didn’t look convinced.

“It’s just that we _need_ to maintain his support on the interplanetary council and if he doesn’t like-“

“Glimmer! Hold still!” Adora grumbled, “I can’t do your makeup if you keep teleporting away before I can actually put anything on your face.”

“Ha! Like you could do my makeup anyway.” She snatched the eye pencil from Adora’s hand and leaned in close to the mirror. “Oh, don’t look so wounded, Adora. We all have our gifts. Bow can do perfectly matching winged eyeliner, you can… punch anyone who tries to object to our wedding?”

This seemed to cheer Adora up, “You bet I will.” She said, punching her fist into her open palm with a wicked grin.

“Speaking of Bow doing my makeup…”

**“** Ooooooh no Sparkles,” Catra laughed, flipping off the bed and landing beside them, glowing orb in tow. “You know the rules, no seeing the groom once you’ve started getting ready.”

Glimmer pouted, “That’s unfair, you didn’t even hear about that tradition until Bow told you yesterday.”

“But Glimmer,” Catra said, eyes wide with mock innocence, “don’t you know how hard I’m trying to follow the rules now? I thought you wanted me to be good?”

“UGH, you guys are the worst!” Glimmer shouted while her friends snickered.

“I’ll go find your Aunt Casta, she’ll be better at this.” Adora said, “Catra, _guard the prisoner.”_ and Catra saluted as her wife left the room.

“Come on Sparkles, I don’t know anything about makeup, but I can probably figure out how to button you into your gown.”

* * *

The start of the ceremony was heralded by the sound of two dozen silver trumpets. From a skiff at the front of the assembly, Mermista stood and threw her hands up into the air causing twin surges of water to part and reveal two dry aisles leading from the shore to the center dais. Scattered throughout the audience, musicians rose from their seats and picked up their instruments, an eclectic gather of strings both local and alien, joining together to play a sweet sweeping melody that rippled over the water. Right on cue, a gaggle of children began to make their way solemnly down the twin aisles; the toddler Sunny shooting tiny handfuls of light out over the audience while a group of Bow’s five youngest nieces and nephews released volleys of arrows which exploded like miniature firecrackers. Once the children reached the dais, they were herded onto a skiff with their beaming parents, and from her place beneath wedding bough, She-Ra lifted her arms, sword in hand, and gestured for the assembly to rise.

Bow stepped forward first, accompanied on each side by his fathers. He was resplendent in a pearl white suit with a long-tailed jacket that swept out behind him like a train. His silver tailored vest was, of course, cut off at the midriff. The trio stopped at the edge of the shoreline and looked back towards the edge of the forest where Glimmer emerged from the trees with her father.

Adora had been surprised when she first saw Glimmer’s choice of gown, the simple chiffon dress had seemed so different from the purple and pink ball gowns that she’d favoured in the past, but watching her best friend make her way to the edge of the lake, she couldn’t imagine her wearing anything else. The pale blue gown was iridescent, flashing one moment silver then pink as Glimmer floated down the aisle, the fabric dancing in a gentle breeze (no doubt courtesy of Spinnerella). Her gown was, Adora realized, the exact colour of the moonstone.

No one in the crowd seemed to breathe until the couple had climbed the steps of the ice dais and joined each other under the wedding bough, so transfixed were they by the grace of their future king, the unearthly beauty of their queen. The spell was broken by Glimmer who burst into tears as soon as she turned to face her husband-to-be.

“Bow your eyeliner is _perfect_. That is so unfair!” Glimmer cried and the onlookers erupted into laughter.

“Glimmer,” Bow said, eyes welling up as he clutched her hands, “I’m gonna need you to stop crying because if you cry, I’m gonna cry, and as you just pointed out my eye makeup is on point and we do _not_ have time to fix it right now.”

“Is, Is that my silver eyeshadow?” Glimmer hiccupped.

“Yes, I had Catra sneak it over so we would be matching.” Bow cried, giving up on his battle to hold back the tears.

“Bow, I think I’m in love with you.”

“Ok good, because I’m definitely in love with you and I think Adora is trying to marry us right now.”

“What! No! Take your time guys,” Adora said, unsuccessfully trying to play it cool while also holding back her own tears, “I mean we uh, have all day?”

“No, Ok, we’re ready.” Glimmer said, reaching out to wipe away Bow’s tears without smudging his eyeliner.

“Ok then! Uh, hello.” Adora said, balking at the sudden volume of her voice which King Micah had magically enhanced to echo out over the entire lake. “Welcome, all, to the wedding of Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon and Bow Archer. Normally Glimmer officiates these wedding things because she’s queen, but she’s busy today!” Adora paused, grinning. A few audience members chuckled politely.

“Moving on then…”

The rest of the ceremony seemed to pass in a blur, Adora remembered most of what she was supposed to say without checking her notes and invited up all the right people when it was there turn to speak. She placed the silver circlet onto Bow’s head and asked the assembly to accept him as King consort, which they responded to with ebullient applause. After what felt like an eternity, the pair exchanged solemn vows and with an internal sigh of relief Adora held up her sword and announced:

“Then by the power vested in me as She-Ra, Galactic Protector, I declare you husband and wife, so go ahead and kiss already!”

Glimmer laughed and threw her arms around Bow’s neck, the pair sinking into a deep kiss that stretched just a second longer than was strictly proper. No one seemed to mind, however, and all erupted into raucous cheers.


	3. The Reception

Catra had to admit, the wedding was gorgeous. After the ceremony had ended, the skiffs had been off-loaded on the shore of Bright Moon Castle and all the guests herded into the ballroom where a hundred round tables set with ornate floral centrepieces circled the room, centring on a wide-open floor for mingling and dancing. From above, silver streamers dripped on the ceiling beams, raining down a never-ending cascade of sparkles.

It was the most spectacular, over-the-top extravaganza Catra had ever seen, and it secretly made her all the more grateful for her and Adora’s quiet off-world elopement. As much as Catra had come to love the people who welcomed her into their lives, they could be exhausting in large doses, and sometimes it was still nice to find a quiet corner where she could sit back and watch from a distance.

Leaning against a back wall with Melog perched on a nearby banister, Catra scanned the crowd. She bit back a smile watching Frosta summon extravagant ice-armour to the delight of a young off-world countess, while across the room Entrapta and Wrong Hordak cornered a visiting dignitary who was trying unsuccessfully to keep them from investigating his prosthetic eye-piece. It was good to know she was surrounded by friends, but right now, there was only one person she really cared about seeing.

As if she had been summoned, Adora, now back to her normal height, emerged from the tangle of people, flushed and shining as she returned the greetings of every near-stranger she passed. When she caught sight of her wife at the back of the room, however, she pushed her way out of the press of admirers and somehow lit up even brighter, sending warm butterflies tumbling in Catra’s stomach.

“Hi, baby!” Adora said.

Catra snorted, “Since when do you call me ba- oh.”

Adora had rushed in and cradled the glowing sphere in her hands, placing a loud kiss on its pulsing surface.

“and hello to you too, love,” Adora said, pecking Catra on the cheek before turning her attention back to the golden sphere.

“Did you see Mommy up there? Didn’t Mommy do such a good job?” She cooed and Catra rolled her eyes.

“I’m pretty sure the baby can’t see anything yet, I mean, it’s kind of just a blob right now.”

Adora gasped in fake horror, clapping her hands over the sides of the orb as if it had ears she was trying to cover.

“Don’t listen to Mama! You’re not a blob, you’re our wibble bitty ba-“

“Oh, look there’s Bow! We should go say hi.” Catra said, towing her wife off towards the man of the hour before she had a chance to come up with any more ridiculous baby talk.

“Hey, guys!” Bow said, turning from a circle of the other princesses to greet them. He’d quickly shed his long-trained tuxedo jacket in favour of the bare-arm cropped vest look. It was frankly surprising Glimmer had talked him into wearing sleeves for any portion of the wedding at all.

“Congrats man.” Catra punched him in the shoulder and shot him a good-natured grin.

“Thanks!” Bow beamed, “Glimmer’s off making the rounds, we figured it would be faster if we pulled the old ‘divide and conquer’ hat out of the bag.”

“And speaking of congrats, no one told us you were pregnant!” Perfuma said, clapping her hands together.

“Heh, well, we are! Surprise!” Adora said, throwing one hand around Catra’s waist with a grin.

“It seems that new life is in the air! Scorpia!” Perfuma called.

“Yes, Morning Blossom?” Scorpia said, appearing behind Perfuma’s shoulder, “Is there something you- OH my goodness, oh man well isn’t this- Wildcat I can’t believe this!”

Scorpia stepped out from behind Perfuma to reveal a large pink orb hovering in front of her chest. Before Catra had time to object, she was enveloped in an enthusiastic embrace, twin spheres shooting up to hover over their heads in order to avoid being crushed.

“Look at us Wildcat,” Scorpia sobbed into her shoulder, “just two birds of a feather, two pods and our peas, two gals having babies at the same time so they can grow up together and be best friends just like us! Isn’t it great!”

“Fantastic,” Catra agreed through gritted teeth, trying to wiggle her way out of Scorpia’s vice-like hug. When she finally clambered free she quickly turned to the princess of Salineas.

“Hey, where’s Seahawk?” She asked, diverting topics.

“Ugh, like I’d know.” Mermista grimaced, “probably somewhere planning to hijack the wedding with ANOTHER absurd marriage proposal. He asks me to marry him, like, once a week.”

Bow chuckled nervously, “Well at least he can’t set any of the ice boats on fire-”

“Oh, he’d probably find a way.” Mermista said. “but don’t worry, as long as I stick near these two” she jerked her thumb at Catra and Scorpia, “he won’t try anything. Babies give him the heebie-jeebies.”

Scorpia cracked up, elbowing Catra in the ribs, “Could you imagine being scared of a baby? Hoo-boy, that’s a good one!”

“Yeah, Catra said, fiddling with the ends of her hair “Totally.”

“I mean look at them!” Scorpia continued, “Just two innocent balls of life, waiting to meet the world. One perfect pink. One glowing gold, which is, wow, so fun by the way!”

“It’s very _unique,”_ Perfuma said.

“Wait, what do you mean unique?” Adora asked.

“Oh!” Perfuma said, “Well there’s nothing wrong with gold, it’s just that blue and pink are the… traditional colours.”

“There’s traditional colours?” Catra asked, a strange feeling rising in her throat, “Bow, why didn’t you tell us there were traditional colours!”

“Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an orb that wasn’t blue or pink.” Scorpia said, raising a pensive claw to her chin, “Not that I’ve seen a ton of orbs! the Horde wasn’t big on fostering family units for some reason.”

Adora cast a worried look towards Catra who’d gone stock still.

“Hey, hey! don’t worry about it!” Bow said, sensing their unease. “Orb colours are weird, mine was pink for _months_ and then the day before I popped out, boom, blue!”

Mermista shrugged, “I had a cousin with a pink _and_ blue orb, like, split right down the middle.”

“Sure,” Perfuma agreed, “Mine was topaz before it transitioned to the most _delicate_ shade of rose. But still… gold? I just haven’t heard of anything like it.”

“I don’t know, maybe it has something to do with She-Ra?” Adora laughed nervously, “She-Ra does lots of weird things.”

“Oh, that’s not it, babycakes.” A voice cut in.

As if on cue, a group of people parted to reveal Double Trouble, grinning devilishly in a floor-length white silk sheath.

“You wore white.” Bow said. “To my wedding.”

Double Trouble laughed, “Don’t worry about it handsome, I don’t think anyone’s going to mistake me for your blushing bride.” As if they couldn’t help themselves, Double Trouble shifted and suddenly Glimmer was in front of them, throwing herself onto Bow’s chest and fluttering her eyelashes coquettishly.

“Double Trouble, to what do we owe the honour?” Catra asked, fighting back laughter as Bow tried to extricate himself from his faux bride.

“You’re right!” Double Trouble exclaimed as they shifted back, “It is an honour! It’s not every-day I offer up my aid free of charge. After all, what am I but a poor starving artist?”

“Yeah yeah ok,” Adora said, “but you know what’s up with our uh, orb?”

“But of course! You see you two dolls have been blessed with a non-binary bundle of joy!” Double Trouble said with a flourish.

“Non-binary,” Catra said slowly, “like you?"

“Oh, don’t flatter yourself kitten, no one is quite _exactly_ like me, but you’ve got the gist. You see we folk come in all kinds of colours. Purple is most common, but yours truly was knit together in a particularly theatrical shade of electric green.” Double Trouble said, glowing with self-satisfaction. “Although I must say, this little golden beastie you’ve concocted is _very_ intriguing.” They circled in front of Catra, grinning as they examined the sphere.

“Call me in a couple of years when they’re old enough to start doing some character work, won’t you? Godparenting this little star through the cutthroat world of live theatre is going to be _thrilling._ ”

With that, Double Trouble spun on their heels, and melded back into the crowd, tossing Catra and Adora a parting wink and a kiss before disappearing from sight.

“Uh,” Adora said, breaking a moment of stunned silence, “what’s a godparent?”


	4. Pillow Cases and Pillow Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now the whole world knows you like hurt/comfort...

It was well past midnight by the time Catra and Adora made their way trudging back to their rooms. They’d seen the newlyweds off, the enamoured pair teleporting to the spaceport which would take them to their final destination on a distant tropical planet. Then there were their duties as defacto hosts, making sure everyone made their way to the proper vehicle or sleeping quarters, a task which involved slogging more than a few drunken revellers directly into their beds. When they were finally free to turn in themselves, exhaustion hung on them like a physical weight.

“How are we supposed to sleep with this-“ Catra threw her hands up to gesture at the golden sphere as she stumbled out of her suit pants, “this glowing baby ball hovering over above us all night?”

Adora laughed at the way Catra’s nose wrinkled up in annoyance and leaned in to plant a light kiss on her grimace.

“I’ll see if I can grab an extra pillowcase to cover it.”

“If you say so.”

When Adora returned, the darkest pillowcase she could find in hand, Catra was already curled up in bed with the golden sphere hanging over her like her own personal moon. Adora climbed in next to her and threw the pillowcase over the sphere which did a surprisingly excellent job of blocking out the light. Beneath the covers, Catra purred her appreciation and Melog shimmered dark blue at the end of the bed. A wisp of a smile passed over Adora’s face and she settled back against the headboard.

“Catra?” she asked cautiously.

“Hmmph?” the lump next to her in bed responded.

“Are you happy about… this?”

“If by ‘this’ you mean our very comfy bed, then yes, I’m ecstatic. Come sleep.” Catra said, reaching out blindly to try and pull Adora down next to her.

“No, that’s not what I meant… It’s just… I was thinking, about what Glimmer and Bow said? about how our baby was formed?” Adora pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, “If it’s just as simple as loving someone and wanting to have a child with them then why-“ She paused, “Why hasn’t this happened to us before?”

Beside her, Catra went completely still.

Adora swallowed the hurt that bloomed in the pit of her stomach and pushed on. “It’s just that, we’ve talked about this before. That time when we babysat Sunny for Spinerella and Netossa, I asked you if ever thought about having kids and I felt kind of stupid asking it but you told me-“

“- I told you that you’d be an amazing mother,” Catra said, quiet exhaustion touching her voice.

“I guess I don’t understand,” Adora whispered, “Did you change your mind?”

Catra suddenly turned over and reached up to brush Adora’s cheek with her hand.

“No!” She said, turning to glance at the shrouded orb between them “this baby will be _so_ lucky have you, you’re going to be the best mom on the planet, on any planet!” Catra withdrew to her side of the bed again, “I just don’t know about me.”

“Catra,” Adora whispered, understanding dawning.

“I don’t know what to do with kids Adora.” Catra turned onto her back and stared blankly towards the ceiling, “You make it look so easy whenever you throw Sunny over your shoulders or when you turn into She-Ra for the village kids, they adore you! But me? I feel like I’d… break them.”

“Oh love, you’re not going to break our baby.”

“You don’t know that!” Catra hissed, “I mean, I've hurt you, and you’re the person I love most in the entire world. I’m going to fuck up this kid like Shadow Weaver fucked up me. I shouldn’t have… I shouldn’t be-“ Catra trailed off with a strangled sob, and Melog let out a keening cry that broke Adora’s heart. She scooched in closer to her wife and gently moved Catra’s head onto her lap, stroking her arm while tears started to pool in her own eyes.

“You are _not_ fucked up Catra. Everything that Shadow Weaver and the Horde did to us? We were stronger than them, ok? We made it out in the end. And yes…you did hurt me, but!” She says as she feels Catra stiffen under her hand, “you’ve changed Catra, and I forgave you. It’s time to forgive yourself.”

Adora bent down and gently kissed Catra’s temple, breathing in the faint minty sweetness of her hair. She felt something brush against her arm and looked up to see Melog who pushed her forehead into the crook of Adora’s neck. She cracked a small smile and scratched the cat-like alien behind the ears.

“Whenever I thought about kids,” Catra whispered, her small voice piercing the silence, “I would always imagine you holding this perfect little version of yourself. Someone small and fragile with big blue eyes and soft blonde hair, because” a shaky intake of breath, “I was _afraid_ to see any of myself in a child. Like if they ended up with any parts of me they’d be ruined.”

Catra choked on another sob and Adora rocked her gently back and forth.

“But then,” Catra continued, a bittersweet smile ghosting her lips “Back in the Whispering Woods, there was this moment when you looked up from the beast’s cub in your arms and you looked at me smiling and I felt… Warm. And that was all it took. All it took for me to let my guard down, to let myself imagine that instead of a cub in your arms, it was a little person with big blue eyes and soft blonde hair… but also with tiny pointed ears.”

Adora’s eyes shimmered with tears as Catra sat up and grabbed her hands, squeezing them just as tightly as she had when she’d dragged her back from the brink of death in the heart of the world.

“And they were beautiful, Adora, and I suddenly wanted to meet them _so_ bad, even if that was selfish. Even if I’ll never be good enough for them.”

Adora pressed her forehead to Catra’s and closed her eyes, twin sets of tears running down each of their faces.

“Catra,” Adora whispered, “I think you’re going to be an amazing mother.”

Catra’s eyes flew open and she drew back to look at Adora, taking a second to gaze at her beautiful wife in awed disbelief. Then, with a choked laughed, she kissed her, cradling Adora’s face in her hands and drawing her forward, falling into her, getting lost is how much she _needed_ her. Kissing Adora was like tasting the sun, she was warmth and reassurance and everything Catra had ever wanted. Everything she’d ever wanted until she dreamt up the tiny person who could be a piece of both of them.

Catra pressed a final soft kiss to Adora’s lips and then turned to the hovering golden sphere, freeing it of its pillowcase. She laid her head onto Adora’s shoulder and the two of them sat in silence, bathing in the gently pulsing light of the strange miracle before them.

“I’m still… I’m still afraid of messing this all up.” Catra said eventually.

“Me too.” Whispered Adora, “but I think it will be ok if you’re there to mess up with me.”

Catra snorted softly, “I guess you’ll need _somebody_ to hang around and make sure you don’t let the baby play with your sword.”

“Are you kidding? Kids LOVE giant swords.” Adora propped herself up onto her elbow and grinned, “Do you remember how excited we were to start combat training when we turned four?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that was one of those things from our childhood that _wasn’t_ normal.”

Adora frowned, “Well when are kids supposed to start combat training then?”

“Beats me,” Catra yawned, her tiny fangs glinting in the golden light “guess we could ask Glimmer and Bow when they get back from their honeymoon, actually, there’s probably a lot of things we need to figure out about what a regular childhood looks like.”

Adora smiled, “To messing up together?” She asked, offering Catra her pinky finger.

“To messing up together.” Catra agreed, hooking their pinkies together.

Snuggling deep under the covers, the pair sank onto their pillows and twined their legs together in the tangled sheets. Catra considered tossing the pillowcase back over the sphere, but she realized the glowing light didn’t bother her anymore, in fact, there was something calming about gentle golden pulses that washed over them. With a sleepy smile, Adora pressed a soft kiss to Catra’s lips.

“Goodnight, love.” She murmured.

“Goodnight, dummy.” Catra said, and then she turned to the golden sphere, “Goodnight, little one.”


End file.
